Such an orange peeler serves to nick the surface of oranges, apples or the like soft-skinned fruits, and to split open the skin and to lift off the peel from the meat of the fruit.
In accordance with prior art, the nicking and splitting open of the orange skin is done by means of a wedge-shaped member arranged at a first end of a handle section.
The shaped member comprises on the one hand a surface area which must at the beginning of the cutting motion be placed against the surface of the orange. There is arranged vertically to the contact surface a cutting edge in form of a wedge, the acumination of which pointing in cutting direction. The opposite end portion is by means of continuous tapering of the handle section shaped into an elongated wedge which serves to lift-off the two sections of orange peel which by now have been separated from each other.
The disadvantages of this known orange peeler are as follows:
(a) The orange peeler cannot be handled conveniently. It does not fit securely in ones hand. The gripping groove provided is not effective. PA0 (b) When the orange peeler is placed against the fruit and the wedge is pressed into the skin, the person using the peeler does not get the impression that he is handling the peeler in a correct manner. He has to look at what he is doing, without however really having any influence or control over the peeler to prevent it from slipping out of the peel. PA0 (c) The thickness and softness of the skins of the above mentioned fruits can vary from fruit to fruit. Since the person using the peeler has no real control over the depth of penetration of the wedge, the orange peeler can penetrate the meat of the fruit. PA0 (d) The juices that are set free when the skin of the fruit is penetrated and when the peel is separated and the meat of the fruit is pierced, will spatter about, messing up the immediate surrounding of the fruit. PA0 (e) The cutting is mainly carried out by moving the upper arm at the shoulder joint and past the front of the body of the person using the peeler. This sequence of awkward movements leads to the above-mentioned unintended slipping-off. PA0 (f) The process of lifting the peel by means of the peeling blade is more a process of pushing than one of peeling. The removal of the fluffy white skin from the meat of the fruit, and the removal of the white fibre particles adhering to the orange, by means of the more or less spatula-like end portion of the orange peeler is unsatisfactory. PA0 (g) When the orange peeler has to be washed there exists always the possibility that it falls out of the basket of the dishwasher, due to its little weight and small size.